The Acolyte gives Jedi a blurry line between Star Wars’ Light and Dark sides

polygon.com:

The High Republic is a time of relative peace in the Star Wars universe. Sure, there are still plenty of problems, and plenty of people who want to threaten the galaxy, but without the Sith to occupy them, the Jedi can be on top of these other dangers in a way they couldn’t during the Skywalker Saga or the Old Republic. Star Wars: The Acolyte gives us a glimpse of the Jedi as galactic peacekeepers, but it also shows us a darker side of the Jedi, and a hint that their High Republic incarnation could be more like the Sith than they’d like to admit — particularly when it comes to their use of the Force.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte.]

Anyone who has spent time thinking about the Jedi, especially as they are in the prequel trilogy, will essentially understand them as the Star Wars galaxy’s police force. Ostensibly agents of the peace, they’re sent into difficult situations with the purpose of de-escalating them, but somehow — sometimes through their fault and sometimes not — the situation escalates to violence anyway. The Jedi must then, in spite of showy faux-monastic protestation, violently end the conflict, usually with the death of one or a few sentient beings.

Despite all this, the Jedi are generally (and not without reason) seen as the good guys in the Star Wars universe, thanks in part to their counterpart the Sith. The exact lines between the two factions have always been murky, but among the most important concerns their use of the Force. The Jedi use it to push and pull their foes, but there are clear delineations between what they deem good and bad. Using the Force to choke someone, turning it into lightning, reading someone’s mind, or holding their body in Force-induced paralysis are all seemingly frowned upon in almost every era of Star Wars.

But The Acolyte’s first two episodes suggest that this might not be true in the High Republic. Late in the second episode, Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae)